OCA Responds to Grand Jury Decision in Wilson Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. –OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) released the following statement:

Miriam Yeung, OCA National Vice President of Public Affairs said, “We are disappointed with the outcome of the decision regarding Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting and death of Michael Brown. As President Obama mentioned in his speech last night, we are a country built on the rule of law, and our police forces are not above the law. Officer Wilson should have been held responsible for his actions. The excessive use of police force, racial and religious profiling, and lack of accountability for officers involved in these cases continue to plague our legal and justice system. They create wedges between our communities and those who are tasked to uphold our laws and protect our people.”

Ken Lee, OCA National Acting CEO followed with, “Today, we stand in solidarity with not only the Brown family but with the African American community and all victims of police violence. We share the expressed sentiments of Michael Brown’s father and call for peaceful protests and intentional advocacy to create the necessary changes that will hold officers accountable for their actions and prevent such tragedies from occurring again.

As advocates, we can and must continue to push for reforms that address the root causes that continue to allow the excessive use of police force and profiling of African, Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander American communities. OCA and our national partners will continue to seek ways to ensure that all our communities can express their full civil rights and are treated fairly under the law. It is our hope the Department of Justice will bring swift justice denied by the grand jury so that our communities can heal and rebuild the trust that has been severed by this incident.”

On Thursday, November 20, 2014, President Obama announced his executive action plans to fix the current immigration system. Highlights of the plans include the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), as well as the creation of a new Deferred Action program for undocumented parents of United States citizens and legal permanent residents. The expansion of DACA would eliminate the age cap; increase work authorization from two to three years; and change the date of entry requirement from June 15, 2007 to before January 1, 2010. Estimates suggested that around five million individuals will be able to gain work authorization through either the new program or the expansion of DACA.

“This is a momentous announcement and the result of years of hard work that Asian Pacific American and other advocates have dedicated to immigration reform,” said Miriam Yeung, OCA National Vice President of Public Affairs. “We thank the President for listening to the many voices from our communities and providing many in our families the opportunity for relief that House leadership has consistently denied us. Our preliminary information has indicated that at least 400,000 APA parents will be able to stay and work legally under the new program.”

Although the President’s plans highlight actions that will provide five million people a legal status, six million individuals will still be unable to obtain status through either program. Additionally, the President’s plans include, but are not limited to, an increase in border security; the replacement of secure communities with a new enforcement program called the Priority Enforcement Program; and an opportunity for spouses of employment visa holders to work, so long as they have an approved application for legal permanent residency.

“We commend the President for taking a bold step forward on immigration reform. Many undocumented APA immigrants currently living in the shadow of our broken immigration system will be able to rest a little easier,” said Ken Lee, OCA National Acting CEO. “But we are disappointed that his plan does not outline specific steps to address the family immigration visa backlogs. Additionally, we are cautious of the inclusion of another federal security program that could perpetuate racial profiling among local and state law enforcement, along with the undefined options to opt out of the program among local and state officials. However, these plans are a good first step, and we will continue to advocate for a permanent fix to our broken immigration system through Congressional legislation.”

All Students Count Action Alert!
Show your support for better national K-12 data!

ABOUT THE ALL STUDENTS COUNT ACT

As many of you recognize, our country is home to more than 48 district groups of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA & NHPI) students. However, data tends to generalize these populations under the label of “Asian” or “Pacific Islander & Native Hawaiian.” Many AA & NHPI groups are masked from this label and their educational challenges and disregarded.

The All Students Count Act is a bill that would require states to report K-12 student data according to the race categories that the decennial Census uses, instead of the outdated categories currently required by the US Department of Education. It also requires cross-tabulated data by gender and disability. This would mean that, for the first time, states would provide student outcomes (e.g. graduation rates) for black males, low-income females, or Latinos with disabilities, in addition to 7 Asian categories and 4 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander categories. Through this campaign effort, we can gain comprehensive data on under resourced students and take strides to address these unique issues.

CURRENT GOALS

Collect at least 500 photos by November 18 for our Tumblr to provide momentum for congress to act

Advocacy with legislators to build champions, co-sponsors, and supporters to pass the bill

Increase student participation in the planning process and photo campaign

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Participate in the photo campaign:

Take a picture with the #AllStudentsCount sign.

Check the box with the major race category that you belong to, and fill in the blank with the ethnicity that you identify with. (e.g. “I am not just Asian, I am Cambodian-American").

Use our attached toolkit and spread this to other organizations or campuses!

IF YOU’RE IN WASHINGTON, DC…

Attend the documentary screening of "America by the Numbers: Pass or Fail in Cambodia Town?". This documentary will highlight the educational barriers that Cambodian American students face and the importance of having disaggregated data.

Tuesday, November 18th at 6PM

Capitol Visitor Center (Exact Auditorium TBD),

First St SE, Washington, DC 20515

Panelists:

Maria Hinojosa, Founder of Futuro Media Group and Host of American by the Numbers

We are excited to see the results of the All Students Count campaign and achieve K12 data reform. Through collective efforts and community organizing, we will create a better K12 education system for our future generations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is outraged at the xenophobic and racist comments made during Fox News’ Cashing In segment.

On Saturday, September 20, panelists on Fox News’ Cashin’ In segment discussed profiling in the United States. The panelists called for increased profiling of Muslim Americans, along with the possibility of internment. One panelist, Jonathan Hoenig, goes so far as to say, “The last war we won, we put Japanese Americans in internment camps. We dropped nuclear bombs on residential city centers. So yeah, I think profiling would be at least a good start. It’s not on skin color…it’s on ideology.”

“The overwhelming consensus among the panelist to profile Muslim Americans and the comment made by Jonathan Hoenig affirming the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is disgusting, xenophobic, and racist,” said Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President. “Protecting our national security should never come at the cost of an entire community’s civil rights. The internment of Japanese Americans did not increase the United States’ chance of success during World War II. And the continued profiling, harassment, and hate against the Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian American communities will not secure the United States borders or help us win the war on terror. The only thing profiling will accomplish is the continued persecution of immigrant communities.”

Since September 11, anti-Islamic and anti-Asian/Pacific Islander hate crimes have increased and continue to remain higher than pre-September 11 numbers. South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) recently released a report highlighting xenophobic rhetoric and hate crimes against South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern, and Arab Communities in the United States. The report indicates that over 80% of all hate violence against these communities were driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

“Our communities demand an apology from Fox News for the comments made. When they speak about profiling based on ideology, they are speaking about profiling based language, country of origin, religion, and ultimately skin color. Irrational fears of internal sabotage and threats based on ideological indicators led to the incarceration of over 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II; and those same indicators are what have increased hate crimes and profiling of Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian Americans since September 11,” said Ken Lee, OCA National Acting CEO. “Ultimately, those indicators come down to little more than an individual’s skin color and are merely a cover to deny civil liberties to communities because of their perceived race, ethnicity, or religion, not ideology.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), sends its deepest condolences to the family of Michael Brown and denounces the outrageous abuse of civil rights against demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri.

“OCA extends our deepest condolences to the Brown family and stands in solidarity with the African American community in this most troubling time. Excessive use of police force, continued racial and religious profiling, and the lack of accountability for officers involved in these cases have led not only to the death of Michael Brown, but a long list of deaths from the African American community and other communities of color,” said Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President. “The reports and investigations from the Ferguson police department have been inadequate in addressing the role of their officer in the shooting and have instead focused on demonizing the character of Michael Brown. That is unacceptable. We call on a full and transparent investigation into this case by the local authorities and by the Department of Justice.”

“The incidents in Ferguson are an outrageous abuse of civil rights against the African American community. The reactions by local police to peacful protesters, from their use of police dogs to tear gases thrown at demonstrators, are clear violations of the Ferguson community’s constitutional right to peacefully assemble,” said Ken Lee, OCA Acting Chief Executive Officer. “Likewise, the curfew imposed by the Governor on civilians limits that same right. We must provide protections for the African American community to grieve the death of this youth and protest the injustice that they have continually faced instead of limiting them.”

“Our nation must address the root causes that continue to allow the excessive use of police force and profiling of African, Latino, Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander American communities. We call for legislation that will prevent such tragedies from occurring again and that will hold officers accountable for their actions,” said Miriam Yeung, OCA National Vice President of Public Affairs. “Asian Pacific American communities have not been exempt from these issues. The deaths of Fong Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Matangi Tai in Mesa, Arizona at the hands of those who have sworn to protect our communities are clear examples that these issues cut across all racial, ethnic, and religious lines. OCA stands in solidarity with the residents of Ferguson in calling for justice and change.”

The OCA St. Louis Chapter also released a statement regarding the effects of the Ferguson incidents on locally owned Asian Pacific American businesses.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is proud to announce its 2013-2014 OCA Unsung Heroes presented by Buick. This year, OCA will honor four individuals whose time and effort towards advancing equity and equality for Asian Pacific Americans are not often publicly recognized.

They will be acknowledged during the 2014 OCA Gala Awards held on Saturday, August 9, 2014 at the OCA National Convention in Los Angeles, CA. OCA will celebrate their spirit of volunteerism and advocacy, and members will learn about the significant contributions each Unsung Hero has made to their communities in 2013.

“The advocates awarded are selfless in their commitment and devotion to advancement of Asian Pacific Americans. Their actions demonstrate the values and mission of OCA. It is because of our chapters and members like them that OCA continues to exist as an organization dedicated to the empowerment of all APAs,” said Clifford Yee, OCA Vice President of Chapter Development. “We thank these individuals for their commitment to strengthening our communities.”

"Buick has sponsored the OCA Unsung Heroes Award since 2001 and is proud to be a returning sponsor this year. It is our absolute honor and privilege to help recognize the people who work so diligently to advance the entire Asian Pacific American community and celebrate their accomplishments,” said Global Chief Diversity Officer Ken Barrett, General Motors.

The 2013-2014 Unsung Heroes Awardees are as follows:

DAVID CHAI was born in 1937 in Nanjing, China, a few months before the Japanese occupation. His family moved to Tokyo in 1948 and he came to America in 1955 with a one-way ticket on a freighter with $100 in his pocket to study Engineering at Purdue University. David Chai retired in 2000 after 30 years with AT&T Bell Laboratories. While at Bell Labs, he encountered the glass ceiling that affects so many Chinese Americans, especially those of the immigrant generation. To help combat this, he became involved with employee affinity groups to improve the promotion prospects of all minority groups. He recognized early on the lack of Asian “role models” to emulate or to serve as mentors at Bell Labs and elsewhere. Moving to Foster City in 2004, he joined OCA San Mateo, and was elected to its Board in 2005.

In 2006, as he was planning for a candidate debate sponsored by OCA San Mateo, he met Roger Dong who was interested in starting a project about Chinese Americans. David has received the Community Service Award of the Asian American Heritage Council of New Jersey (1998), the Outstanding & Distinguished Service Award from the OCA New Jersey and the Aletha R. Wright Volunteer Leadership Award from Leadership New Jersey in 1999. He has served on many boards, including the Board of 80-20 (2005-2008); the United Way of Monmouth County [NJ]; Leadership New Jersey; OCA San Mateo, where he is the Chair of Speak & Lead with Pride.

JINKY DOLAR is a senior account executive at Crossings TV. She has worked at the Sacramento Bee as an Audience Development Sales Manager in the Circulation Department for over nine years. Jinky has successfully established new business partnerships with the Press Club, utility, cable, phone companies, builders, grocers, retailers, magazines, etc. She is an avid activist on anti-domestic violence, mental health awareness, problematic gambling, human trafficking and other civil rights issues impacting Asian Americans. Her community involvement has helped me build an extensive network build coalitions. In turn, she connected local non-profit organizations to key grant opportunities such as those with philanthropic businesses.

Jinky served on many diverse and non-profit organization boards, amongst which she is most impressed with OCA Sacramento’s mission, its advocacy work for the Asian American community and its leadership standing in the community. Jinky joined OCA Sacramento four years ago serving on different capacities. Currently, she is the Executive Vice President. For the past three years, she has chaired the chapter’s signature fundraising event, the Dragon Boat Festival Celebration. She was able to successfully secure new corporate and community sponsorships, and has raised event attendance to more than 500 guests. Jinky also enjoys working with her business partners on the Business Advisory Council, which brought successful education and leadership programs to the community that include the Youth Speak and Lead with Pride Program, API Business Women Luncheon, and Legislative Reception at the Capitol.

JERI OKAMOTO FLOYD is the first attorney in her family. Jeri is a third-generation Japanese American who spent her youth in Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, California, and Oregon. She graduated summa cum laude from UC Santa Barbara and received a full scholarship to Loyola Law School, where she served as Managing Editor of the Law Review. She is a lifetime OCA member and first volunteered with OCA Greater Los Angeles (GLA) during the 1994 convention in Los Angeles. She has served as the OCA GLA Director of Education & Culture, an advisory board member, and volunteers and continues as a liaison to the China adoption community. Jeri's family underwrites wish lists for the API Community Holiday Toy Drive and annually sponsors OCA GLA summer interns.

Jeri found her heart’s calling when she and her husband adopted their two daughters from China. She initiated youth mentorship programs at UCLA, such as the China Care Bruins Buddy Program (2005-present) and Chinese Cultural Dance Club's Junior Dance Program (2002-present) -- connecting Chinese adoptees (ages five to teens) with API college mentors. She has conducted transracial adoption workshops with the FCC, Vista Del Mar Family Services, OCA, Pact, and the international Half the Sky/China Care Foundation and North American Council on Adoptable Children. She facilitated FCC/OCA roundtables at two national conventions; helped start the FCC/OCA family picnics; and coordinated FCC/OCA screenings of the China adoption film Somewhere Between. Her articles and essays have appeared in Adoptive Families, The Sun, Guideposts, Nikkei Chronicles, OCA Image, FCC China Connection Journal, and other publications.

MICHAEL WU joined OCA New York (NY) in 2008 and has been a Board Member since 2010. In 2013 and for the last five years, Michael has served as co-captain of OCA NY’s dragon boat racing teams where he and his co-captain led the team to win divisional 1st place in 2009 and 2012 in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. After attending the 2013 JACL-OCA Leadership training in Washington, D.C., Michael spearheaded OCA NY’s voting rights work in the summer and fall, where his team of two interns and over 20 volunteers exceeded the committed goals. Michael has also been active with the campaign for justice for Private Danny Chen in 2013 by volunteering his time to drive a vanload of supporters to North Carolina to monitor one of the courts-martial and by helping to collect signatures in support of the successful street co-naming petition for “Private Danny Chen Way” in Chinatown.

Michael is currently the Founding Managing Partner of Blue Angel Partners, a seed stage and technology-focused venture capital fund with partners in New York, Atlanta, Raleigh, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Prior to that, Michael was a VC at Chart Venture Partners investing in startups with dual-use technologies for both commercial and defense applications. In addition to volunteering for OCA NY, Michael also volunteers his time as a Board Member of Long Island Angel Network, Advisory Board Member of Clean Energy Business Incubator at Stony Brook University, Advisory Board Member of WBT Innovation Marketplace, and mentor to startups and technology incubators and accelerators such as The Cleantech Open, NEXUS-NY, R/GA Connected Devices Accelerator, LaunchPad Long Island, PowerBridge NY, among others.

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About General Motors
General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and its partners produce vehicles in 30 countries, and the company has leadership positions in the world's largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. GM, its subsidiaries and joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Baojun, Buick, GMC, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety, security and information services, can be found at http://www.gm.com. GM is also a recognized leader in the automotive industry for its pioneering efforts in diversity. To learn more, visit http://www.gm.com/diversity.

​WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), demands an apology from Bob Beckel for the racist comment he recently made on Fox News’ “The Five”.

On Thursday’s edition of “The Five”, co-host Bob Beckel made the following statement: “The Chinese are the single biggest threat to the national security of the United States,” Beckel said. “You know what they just did? As usual, we bring them over here, and we teach a bunch of Chinamen– uh, Chinese people how to do computers. They go back to China and they hack into us.”

“Bob Beckel’s comment was racist, xenophobic, and derogatory towards not only Chinese Americans, but all Asian Americans. Asian Pacific Americans are citizens, military personnel, and government officials, yet our communities continue to be viewed by the larger American public as perpetual foreigners and a threat to American national security,” said Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President. “Although these harmful stereotypes have begun to erode over the last decade, Bob Beckel’s comments are a painful reminder of the hate and overt racism that the APA community continues to endure. What he said was unacceptable and would not have been tolerated if said of any other racial minority. OCA and the Asian Pacific American community demand an apology from Bob Beckel for this comment and from Fox News for even allowing Beckel on-air given his history of racist language.”

Beckel has made racist statements in the past regarding APAs. In 2011, he said after he went swimming, he looked “oriental”. He also said that “Chinamen are rednecks” after his usage of the term during an episode of “The Five” that same year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act (CRA).

The CRA was first proposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964. The CRA banned segregation in all public spaces; desegregated schools; prohibited unequal voting requirements; barred denial of service because skin color; and made discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, and gender in the workplace illegal, among other milestones. Below is a quote from Sharon M. Wong, OCA National President:

“Today is a day for celebration. The Civil Rights Act was a monumental victory for not only civil rights advocates but for all Americans. It has provided many within our community the protections necessary to express the rights that we have always been afforded under the Constitution, and it remains a pivotal piece of legislation that has paved the way for the continued expansion of our civil liberties. However, though we rejoice in the spirit of the legislation, we must remember that these rights are not unopposed. Recent attacks on fundamental civil rights policies and programs, such as the attempts to undermine affirmative action or the rise of voter identification laws, remind us that there remains a strong and present need to prevent the encroachment of one’s fundamental rights.

Asian Pacific Americans stood in solidarity with other communities of color during the long march for justice. No community can progress if other communities are weighed down by unjust and inhumane laws. We will continue to advocate for the safety of all communities; promote diversity in higher education and public employment through affirmative action; and ensure APA voices are counted in the ballot box. OCA remains dedicated to protecting and advancing equality and equity for all Americans.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, a national membership-driven organization of community advocates dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), shares the sentiments made by President Obama regarding Congressional inaction on immigration reform.

On June 30th, President Obama gave remarks on the need for executive action on immigration reform in response to the failure of House leadership to pass an immigration bill. The President emphasized the bipartisan desire for movement on the issue in the House and highlighted the overwhelming support of the American public for legislation. Miriam Yeung, OCA Vice President of Public Affairs, released the following statement:

“President Obama’s remarks demonstrate the need for bipartisan and permanent reform. We echo the President’s disappointment with House leadership and their unwillingness to allow an immigration bill onto the floor. The American public elected them into office to represent our interests, and they have failed to give us the vote our communities have waited to see for over a year.

We urge the President to take into consideration the needs of the Asian Pacific American immigrant communities as he executes his executive authority. Specifically, we want him to ease the burdens placed on undocumented immigrants, keep families together, and ensure that all immigrants are provided the necessary due process and prosecutorial discretion they deserve. However, our communities still require a fair, humane, and permanent solution to our broken immigration system, and OCA will continue to advocate for that reform.”